This invention relates generally to apparatus for chopping wood and, more particularly, to wood chopping apparatus comprising a feed hopper into and through which tree members to be chopped are fed, a housing for accommodating rotary blade apparatus, a discharge tube through which the chopped wood pieces are discharged from the apparatus and rotary blade apparatus disposed within the housing.
One of the consequences of the continuous and rapid increases in the price of oil has been the increased use of solid fuels such, for example, as wood chips, peat, etc., in connection with the generation of heating energy. In this connection, several types of apparatus are known for manufacturing chipped wood. Such known and conventional wood chipping apparatus generally incorporate a rotating, drum-like blade apparatus which operates as a cutting blade to which the wood material to be chopped is introduced by means of separate feeding apparatus. Such conventional wood chippers generally require relatively high power input and, consequently, the production of chipped wood is a relatively expensive operation.
Further, it is generally recognized that wood chips having a relatively large size, i.e., so-called piece-chopped wood, is better suited for use in connection with the generation of heating energy by virtue of its geometrical properties than the common smaller variety of chipped wood. More particularly, piece-chopped wood is generally better suited for heat generation than conventional chipped wood in that piece-chopped wood will dry more completely and in a shorter time when stored in a heap or pile since a better circulation of air can be accomplished between the piece-chopped wood which comprises lump-like wood pieces which inherently provides spaces therebetween when stored in a heap through which air can circulate. In contrast, however, conventionally chipped wood comprising smaller wood pieces, when piled in a heap or the like, tends to become densely or closely packed thereby inhibiting the circulation of drying air therethrough so that such conventional chipped wood remains damp even after long periods of time. Of course, the damp chipped wood presents difficulties when used as a fuel resulting in increased costs with respect to its firing and, further, provides reduced calorific content.